Movie Fright
by RascalJoy
Summary: A seemingly harmless movie night turns sour as a certain scene of the Lion King falls a little too close to home for a certain Boy Wonder.


**Hiya, y'all! Another one-shot from yours truly!**

**I can't remember where this idea came from... But this is yet another story that has been sitting in my doc folder for MONTHS that I finally got around to finishing while staying up to wait for my parents and sister to come home from pre-Black Friday shopping. Course, since it's like 4am, it is Black Friday... Whatever.**

**I have not seen Lion King in YEARS, so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Silence reigned in the enormous mountain that currently housed six teenage heroes. It had been a relatively peaceful last few days, no missions of any sort coming up in the glaringly empty schedule. The team was hanging out comfortably in the lounge, checking weapons, typing on computers, and staring at static-filled screens as the evening seemed to drag endlessly on.

"Excuse me," came a soft, slightly timid voice, breaking the bored silence.

The five teens looked up from their various positions sprawled around the green couches. M'gann stood at the edge of the circle of couches, hands clasped tightly behind her back.

The Martian smiled. "I was wondering if you would all like to have a Movie Night. I have heard of these earth movie nights on Mars, and since it is a Friday, I thought it would be a good time to have one with the whole team!"

"Yes!" Wally cried, shooting to his feet. "I haven't done something like this in ages!"

"Me neither," Robin and Artemis said simultaneously. The two humans exchanged raised eyebrows at each other.

M'gann brightened as the others chorused (or in Conner's case, grunted) their agreement. "Wonderful!" she said, clapping her hands. "Does anyone have any suggestions for a movie we should watch?"

"I do not know many of these films that the surface world is so fond of," Kaldur said. "I am willing to try anything."

"Ooh, ooh!" Wally interrupted, waving his hand in the air excitedly. "Mission Impossible!"

Robin snorted. "Uh, no."

Wally gave him a shocked look. "What do you mean 'no'? It's a show about a super secret spy ninja. I thought you liked that sort of thing!"

The Boy Wonder shrugged. "Some of the stuff in there isn't exactly...accurate."

A thoughtful expression crossed the speedster's face. "I suppose."

"Actually," M'gann piped up. "I thought this one could be interesting." She held up a silver case. "It's called _Herbie_. It's about a Love Bug that—"

"Silver one!" Wally and Robin screeched simultaneously, socking each other in the arm. "Ow!"

M'gann blinked. "Er, okay." She carefully placed the DVD under a pillow. "I suppose we could watch something else," she said cheerfully. "Like _Alice in Wonderland_. It's about this girl who—"

"No," Artemis said shortly. "Pick something else."

A hurt look crossed M'gann's face. "Oh. Okay."

Artemis immediately looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, M'gann. How about you pick another Disney movie? There's like, hundreds to choose from."

M'gann nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. I suppose so." She turned around, rifling through the Cave's DVD cabinet.

"How did the League get so many Disney movies in the first place?" Artemis muttered, peering over M'gann's shoulder as the Martian flipped through the cases.

Dick and Wally flushed. Luckily, the archer didn't seem to notice.

Suddenly, M'gann resurfaced, raising an orange DVD case above her head like a trophy. "How about _Lion King_? It looks interesting. It has lions and some weird dog—or is that wolf?—creatures in it."

"Whatever you want, Megalicious," Wally agreed with a wink. "Ow!"

Artemis settled back into her seat, feigning ignorance as Wally rubbed his arm, glaring balefully in her direction. "Sure. Don't think I've ever seen that one before."

"Me neither," Dick said.

"It sounds interesting," Kaldur said.

Conner merely shrugged. "Sure."

"Yay!" M'gann cried, floating over to the DVD player. "It seems we are in agreement!"

Within minutes, the movie was in, the popcorn was made, and the team was all kicked back on the couches (or, in Conner's and Wolf's case, the floor).

The unknown African theme song began to play, the sun slowly rising over the horizon as the scene turned to shots of various wild animals.

The movie went on peacefully enough, with the occasional snicker and wisecrack at some amusing tidbit that usually wasn't all that funny. That's around where things started going south.

"Ugh, Scar is sick!" Artemis snorted, wrinkling her nose at the screen. "What kind of brother would kill his sibling for the throne?"

"An evil one," Wally suggested.

Artemis whacked him upside the head.

"Ow!"

A few minutes later, Scar prowled in front of a completely oblivious and trusting Simba, convincing him to follow him to a nearby canyon so he could give him a "surprise."

"Don't trust him!" M'gann cried. "What is Simba doing?"

Wally patted her knee comfortingly. "It's just a movie, M'gann. Simba couldn't listen to you if he wanted to—he's completely at the mercy of the director."

Dick sat as tense as a coiled spring in the middle of the green couch, eyes wide behind his sunglasses as he stared at the little lion cub sitting on the rock in the middle of the canyon. This did not look good at all.

The sound of thundering hooves became known, growing louder and louder with each passing second, a black and brown mass becoming visible on the horizon.

"Stampede!" M'gann screeched, causing those around her to jump at the sudden outburst.

Waves of distress emanated from the Martian, which, unfortunately, did not help Dick's guarded emotions as Scar prodded Mufasa onto the scene.

It was so similar: the threats, the treachery...

He blinked, realizing he'd zoned out for a few moments. And there, on the screen, was the proud king of the savanna, falling off the rock he was standing on in his attempt to reach his son and slipping down to dangle precariously by two paws from the precipice. Nothing but air stood between the lion's dangling hind legs and the stampeding wildebeests below.

Dick's fingers dug into the couch cushion. He could feel all the blood draining from his face. No. This wasn't happening.

The lion's claws scrabbled on the rock. The treacherous brother reached out with both paws, covering the Lion King's desperate ones with his. And then, slowly, maliciously, he pushed the desperate paws off the rock. Scar's mouth moved, but Dick couldn't hear what he said through the blood roaring in his ears.

Then, Mufasa fell. One final, fearful, angry roar echoed through the surround sound, vibrating the floor with its intensity. A higher, terrified scream echoed the mighty one as the camera zoomed in on the horrified lion cub on a rock with a horribly perfect view of where the falling lion had disappeared under the thundering hooves...

Dick lurched off his seat as nausea rolled through his stomach.

"'Scuse, me," he mumbled, staggering clumsily over limbs and bodies. Muttered curses and half-hearted glares were shot his way, but all he could hear was that one terrified scream as it seemed to echo repeatedly in his mind, breaking down the barriers surrounding long-surpressed memories.

Lacking his usual grace, his foot caught on Conner's kneecap. Unable to keep his balance, he fell out of the couch circle and lay sprawled on the ground, his sunglasses flying off his face from the impact. His head jerked up as he struggled to get to his feet—and that's when he saw the screen.

Simba crept carefully up to his father's still form, ears down, whiskers trembling, as if daring to hope his eyes were deceiving him. "Dad?" he whispered.

Robin was out of the room before he even realized he'd regained his feet.

The next thing he knew, he was in the bathroom, barreling into a stall and collapsing onto the smudged tiles. He practically threw himself over the toilet as his stomach heaved, hurling what was left of his dinner into the stark white porcelain bowl.

He fell back, trembling, against the partition, struggling to control his rapid breathing.

Memories pounding ruthlessly before his eyes and in his ears—red starbursts, the crunch of bones, mangled limbs, and above all the drowned out screams of a 9-year-old child.

Lunch joined dinner in the toilet.

As he strove to regain his breath, a hand tentatively placed itself on his shoulder. Dick jerked backward, defenses kicking in as he lashed out at the person who had somehow joined him unnoticed in the bathroom.

"Whoa!" the intruder cried, a familiar shock of red hair flashing across the stall as Wally dodged the fist. "Dude, it's okay! It's me."

Robin stared at him uncomprehendingly.

Wally slowly walked toward him, hands up in a placating gesture. "It's okay, man," he said softly. "I'm here to help."

Wally lowered himself carefully to the ground beside the bird. He wrapped an arm over the trembling boy's shoulders, and Dick buried his face into the warm shoulder, a dry sob escaping his lips.

Dick lost track of how long they sat there. He was only aware of the comforting presence beside him and the steadily growing wet spot beneath his cheek.

Wally, for his part, remained uncharacteristically silent, merely holding the boy as he let himself go on his shoulder.

After a while, Dick finally got control of his breathing, forcing himself to calm down. His silent sobs trickled to the occasional sniffle as he clapped the lid down on the vivid memories.

"Hey," Wally said softly, daring to break the tense silence. "You okay?"

Robin nodded jerkily, forcefully prying his fingers out of Wally's sweater. "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

Wally thankfully didn't point out that he most definitely was _not_. Seeing something so similar to—to _the_ day with absolutely no warning did not fit well on Dick's emotional roller coaster.

"I'm sorry, dude," Wally muttered. "I totally forgot about that part."

Dick sniffed, wiping his nose messily on his sleeve. "It's—it's okay."

Wally gave him a concerned look. "You sure? That was _so_ not very best friend-ish of me to...well, be so dumb."

Dick managed a small smile. "Nah. You're fine. You made up for it, didn't you?"

Wally gave him a guilty smile. "Yeah. I suppose I did."

They sat again in a more companionable silence as Dick wiped the last tears from his eyes, wiping all evidence of the salty droplets from his face.

"You ready to go back?" Wally asked hesitantly.

Dick nodded. Then, something occurred to him: "Does...does anything like that happen again?"

Wally seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Sort of," he said finally. "Scar falls off a cliff. But cats always land on their feet. You know, when they're not getting tramp—" He cut himself off. "I mean, he was fine, until he got attacked by his own hyena army." His green eyes widened. "Whoops. Spoilers."

Dick shrugged. "No problem. I think I'll enjoy watching that scum die."

Wally stared at him warily. "Um, you do realize this is all make-believe...right?"

"Of course. Doesn't change the fact I'll enjoy it."

Wally gaped at him.

A watery smile poked at the corners of Robin's lips. "Psyche."

Wally shook his head slowly. "You Bats never cease to confuse me." He held out his hand, revealing the slightly bent frames of a pair of triangular sunglasses. "You dropped these."

"Oh. Thanks." Robin took them, sliding them back on his nose. He felt slightly better as the dark lenses covered his eyes. Even though he generally hated hiding his true identity from his friends, at this moment, he felt less exposed, less vulnerable. At least the stupid glasses were good for something.

He took Wally's proffered hand, pulling himself to his feet. He brushed himself off, straightening some of the wrinkles from his jacket and sweater and hoping he didn't look like he'd just slept in his clothes.

Wally held the stall door open, bowing dramatically. "After you."

Dick stepped out of the stall, and they headed back down the hallway. Just before the got within Superboy earshot, Robin put a hand on Wally's shoulder, pulling the speedster to a stop. "Wally?"

The redhead glanced at him curiously. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Wally blinked. He gave him a small smile, clapping the smaller boy on the shoulder. "Anytime, man."

* * *

**So what do you think? Rushed? Awkward? Let me know in a review! Constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated.**

**Also, anyone catch what was going on with Dick and Wally's reaction to Herbie? Kudos to you! Also note that yet another fic is currently sitting in my doc folder that expounds greatly on that. Keep an eye out for it! It'll be titled after the game that they are playing!**

**Don't forget to review! And all of you going Black Friday shopping as we speak, or will be later, have fun and stay safe! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!**

**And don't forget to check out my other stories!**

**Okay, done talking now. The box is right below ;)**


End file.
